'86 CRASH MEMORIES RETURN

MAP (Color) (MARK E. THURMAN/POST-TRIBUNE)

THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION MAY DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM THE PRINTED VERSION.DEATH ON THE SOUTH SHORE - RAILROAD TRAGEDY, AGAIN

Scott Kimmel can still see the steel coil coming, feel the train shaking and hear the screams from those around him.Twelve years after the Chesterton man was one of 32 people injured in a South Shore train accident, his memories remain vivid.Thursday's train accident, which killed three people, mirrored the October 30, 1986, accident.

Then, a tractor-trailer was stalled on the railroad tracks near Clay Street when the eastbound train smashed into it, and a 20-ton steel coil came off the truck and ripped through the first car of the train.

"I was sleeping, but my face smashed into the handlebars and I saw the coil coming and it just didn't seem real," Kimmel said. "I remember things flying through the air and it all happened extremely quick, but I had dreams about it for a long time."

"Unfortunately, it's something I'll never forget."

Since 1971, six fatal accidents have occurred on the South Shore railroad tracks. Nearly 300 people have been injured and 13 killed.

* June 2, 1997 - Rosetta Prendergast, 38, of Schererville, died after she was pinned between a train and platform at the Randolph Street station.

* Jan. 18, 1993 - Seven people died and 155 were injured when two trains collided on Gary's west side. NTSB officials blamed human error, claiming eastbound train engineer David Riordan disregarded a stop signal on the gantlet bridge where parallel tracks merge. The westbound train engineer, Willard Blewett, didn't react quickly enough to stop his train, but officials couldn't determine if he could have prevented the crash.

* April 1, 1987 - Train engineer Robert T. Martin stuck his head out a window, probably to determine how close his train would come to an approaching line of 20 freight cars, and was killed by a passing freight car. Four passengers were injured in the Burnham, Ill., accident.

* Oct. 30, 1986 - Thirty-two people were hurt when an eastbound train hit a stalled tractor-trailer at Gary's Clay Street crossing. The trucker was charged with driving around lowered crossing gates.

* Jan. 21, 1985 - Two trains collided head-on and 82 were injured. One train was leaving the station at Broadway in Gary when it hit an incoming train.

* Jan. 26, 1971 - Strong winds pushed an empty coal gondola into the path of an oncoming train in Porter County. Brakeman John Wysong was killed when the train he was riding in derailed and overturned.

'86 CRASH MEMORIES RETURN

MAP (Color) (MARK E. THURMAN/POST-TRIBUNE)

THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION MAY DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM THE PRINTED VERSION.DEATH ON THE SOUTH SHORE - RAILROAD TRAGEDY, AGAIN

Scott Kimmel can still see the steel coil coming, feel the train shaking and hear the screams from those around him.Twelve years after the Chesterton man was one of 32 people injured in a South Shore train accident, his memories remain vivid.Thursday's train accident, which killed three people, mirrored the October 30, 1986, accident.

Then, a tractor-trailer was stalled on the railroad tracks near Clay Street when the eastbound train smashed into it, and a 20-ton steel coil came off the truck and ripped through the first car of the train.

"I was sleeping, but my face smashed into the handlebars and I saw the coil coming and it just didn't seem real," Kimmel said. "I remember things flying through the air and it all happened extremely quick, but I had dreams about it for a long time."

"Unfortunately, it's something I'll never forget."

Since 1971, six fatal accidents have occurred on the South Shore railroad tracks. Nearly 300 people have been injured and 13 killed.

* June 2, 1997 - Rosetta Prendergast, 38, of Schererville, died after she was pinned between a train and platform at the Randolph Street station.

* Jan. 18, 1993 - Seven people died and 155 were injured when two trains collided on Gary's west side. NTSB officials blamed human error, claiming eastbound train engineer David Riordan disregarded a stop signal on the gantlet bridge where parallel tracks merge. The westbound train engineer, Willard Blewett, didn't react quickly enough to stop his train, but officials couldn't determine if he could have prevented the crash.

* April 1, 1987 - Train engineer Robert T. Martin stuck his head out a window, probably to determine how close his train would come to an approaching line of 20 freight cars, and was killed by a passing freight car. Four passengers were injured in the Burnham, Ill., accident.

* Oct. 30, 1986 - Thirty-two people were hurt when an eastbound train hit a stalled tractor-trailer at Gary's Clay Street crossing. The trucker was charged with driving around lowered crossing gates.

* Jan. 21, 1985 - Two trains collided head-on and 82 were injured. One train was leaving the station at Broadway in Gary when it hit an incoming train.

* Jan. 26, 1971 - Strong winds pushed an empty coal gondola into the path of an oncoming train in Porter County. Brakeman John Wysong was killed when the train he was riding in derailed and overturned.